Japan Help

[sambibabe]

I love Japan. Once Yen fares better, I am so going there again

My favorite place is Kyoto! We usually book the hotel there and make a day trip to Osaka and Nara. Are you planning to make a lot of Shinkansen (bullet train) rides? If so, JR pass works out a lot cheaper and you can use it for both Shinkansen and local JR lines. If you stay in Tokyo, don't forget to visit Shinjuku on Saturday night. There were literally millions of people on the street and all those neon signs blew me away!

Edited to add:
I also found the airport baggage storage service helpful too. I had to travel to Canada from Japan and didn't want to carry 2+ luggage with us, so we left them at the airport and pick them up a week later. You can also ask hotels to organize the courier for your luggage, too. When we went there first, we didn't know any better.. We dragged our luggage and shopping bags through Tokyo station and that was a nightmare!

 

[Le-Saboteur]

There are soo many hostels and backpackers in Tokyo and Kyoto, we were staying in one which was really nice in Kyoto and was the equivalent of about NZ$30 a night for a dorm bed. Dunno how the exchange rate for you guys, but I doubt it'd be more than US$20. Lots of places had free security lockers and internet usage, bike hire (which was SO helpful!). And, like someone else said, there is always public transportation nearby.

In Tokyo, going to the East Garden at the Emperors palace is really nice. Also, the museum is HUGE and there is so much awesome stuff in there! That was all I really saw in the city, otherwise I was just staying in the suburbs. Even a random mall in Kamagaya was way bigger than anything we have in this country so it was a huge experience for me

As for Kyoto, what an amazing place, so much stuff to see, and like another poster said, safe! I was about 16 and walking around at night wasn't a scary experience at all... There weren't any drunks or glue sniffers so that's different to home, hah. The tourist attractions are listed elsewhere, and I can say that most of them really are as good as they sound. Kyoto was an amazing city, so much to see.

Didn't see much of Osaka or Kobe, but I would love to have a look around there, too. I hope you have time to just wander around, that's really where you find the best spots. There was a mall in Kyoto somewhere and I turned out a door and there was a big Shinto shrine right in front of me. It was so cool and completely unexpected. There was a lot of that. :]

I wanna go back so bad >.<

 

[Jello89]

Thank you everyone for your advice! This has really made my life easier! Listening to your experiences make me so excited I wish I could just leave right now! I will def. take all of your advice into consideration while planing my trip! You guys are awesome

Right now I believe that CAN-YEN is 1$-70-ish$.
I looked into the places Breechan mentioned and they look really neat!

Here is another question!
What kind of food(particular dish/restaurant/things to be bought at a grocery store) did you guys enjoy the most??

 

[sambibabe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jello89 Here is another question! What kind of food(particular dish/restaurant/things to be bought at a grocery store) did you guys enjoy the most??

Did you say you'll be going there during summer? OMG, try all the fruits, especially grapes! I ate grapes, strawberries, house mikan (mandarines) everyday. At restaurants, we mostly had sets, like sushi would come with a bit of tempura, soup, etc. They only cost like $5 a set! Do try Okonomiyaki (savory pancakes with seafood and vegies) and Takoyaki. Some restaurants offer 'cook your own Okonomiyaki or tempura'. Yumm.. You can basically get food everywhere though.. Supermarkets, stations and lower ground of Department stores all have special bentos and sushi packs, and even convenience stores like Family Mart or Lawson have bentos! You won't be starved lol. For breakfast, try bakeries- they have sets for $4 and you get salad, sandwich and coffee/tea. Triangle rice balls are great too, but unfortunately they don't have English labels and you might end up with weird flavor, like cooked fish eggs eeek.